Kennedy Drops Bid for Senate Seat, Citing Personal Reasons

Caroline Kennedy announced early Thursday that she was withdrawing from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York, startling the state’s political world after weeks in which she was considered a top contender for the post.

Ms. Kennedy on Wednesday called Gov. David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, to inform him that she was no longer interested.

“I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” Ms. Kennedy said in a statement released by her public relations firm.

Ms. Kennedy did not elaborate, but a person who spoke to her suggested that her concerns about the health of her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer and was hospitalized after a seizure on Tuesday, contributed to her decision.

Her decision appeared to catch the governor off guard, throwing the Paterson administration into confusion and setting off conflicting news media reports. After frantic talks between the governor’s operation and Ms. Kennedy’s camp Wednesday evening, Ms. Kennedy appeared to waver on whether to withdraw, and was preparing a statement reasserting her interest in the job. But just after midnight, she decided to make clear she was taking her name out of consideration and released the statement saying so.

Ms. Kennedy declined to be interviewed.

The Paterson administration scrambled to respond to the news, providing contradictory answers to reporters’ questions. Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Errol Cockfield, Mr. Paterson’s press secretary, said the governor had dismissed reports that Ms. Kennedy was withdrawing as “just the rumor of the day.”

More than an hour later, Mr. Cockfield asked that that statement not be published, and suggested that more information would be provided by the governor’s office. But neither he nor the governor’s communications director, Risa B. Heller, would respond to further questions about Ms. Kennedy.

Ms. Kennedy’s move comes nearly two months after Mrs. Clinton was nominated to be secretary of state.

In the weeks that followed, Ms. Kennedy, along with several members of Congress and leading political officials, began lobbying the governor for the coveted Senate seat. She attracted relentless attention and was viewed by many as the most likely choice for Mr. Paterson, given her national stature and ties to the incoming Obama administration.

“I’m surprised, I’m very surprised,” said Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, a friend of the governor’s who met with Ms. Kennedy in his Harlem office. He added: “I had just met with her last week and she told me she was in and ready, willing and able.”

Ms. Kennedy had gained the support of some powerful backers in the state, including several labor officials and a top aide to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Kevin Sheekey.

But her pursuit of the seat also set off resistance, with some local Democratic officials suggesting it smacked of entitlement, and polls showing voters preferring Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo for the position.

Ms. Kennedy, 51, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy and a resident of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has never served in public office.

Ms. Kennedy also stumbled initially with the news media, refusing at first to answer questions about why she was running, but later giving a series of interviews in which she elaborated about her interest in the job and her eagerness to enter public life.

Governor Paterson had planned to announce his selection on Friday or Saturday, but it was not clear how Ms. Kennedy’s move may affect the timing. The governor has been coy, and while he has praised Ms. Kennedy, he has also spoken approvingly of other candidates, including Mr. Cuomo and Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, who is beginning her second term in Congress from the Albany area.

Mrs. Clinton resigned from the Senate on Wednesday, immediately after being sworn in as secretary of state. The governor has said privately and publicly that he would like to select a woman to succeed her, noting that if he were to choose a man, the number of female senators would drop to just 16.

Some have speculated that with the state facing a $15 billion budget deficit, it would be risky for Mr. Paterson to bypass Ms. Kennedy, given her connections to the Obama administration and top Senate Democrats like Majority Leader Harry Reid. Mr. Paterson appeared to like Ms. Kennedy and saw in her a potential star, but was frustrated and angry by what he saw as efforts by her supporters, especially within Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, to create a sense of inevitability about her candidacy.

“She has pluses and minuses,” Mr. Paterson said in a radio interview earlier this month, adding that Ms. Kennedy “has a tremendous relationship with the president and that’s certainly a plus. She does not have much legislative experience, which is a minus.”

Photo

Caroline Kennedy left the Gee Whiz diner after an interview in New York in December.Credit
Stephen Chernin/Associated Press

There have been conflicting signals in recent days and weeks about whether Mr. Paterson had settled on Ms. Kennedy for the job. Mr. Paterson said earlier this week that he had chosen someone, but some advisers, as recently as Wednesday, remained convinced that he not yet made up his mind.

A friend of the governor’s said on Wednesday afternoon that “I would be totally shocked” if Mr. Paterson did not pick Ms. Kennedy.

“If he doesn’t go with her, how angry is the Democratic leadership going to be with him?” the friend said.

Ms. Kennedy’s departure would reset the political calculus among the remaining contenders, about half a dozen of whom were likely to be serious prospects if Ms. Kennedy were out of the picture. Publicly and privately, Mr. Paterson has talked about the importance of selecting a woman to replace Mrs. Clinton, which could boost such candidates as Ms. Gillibrand, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, and Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers.

Mr. Cuomo remains a top contender for the job. He would be unlikely to face a primary challenge in 2010 and has already proved himself as a statewide office holder, and Mr. Paterson is said to be eager to pick someone who will add political and fund-raising heft to the statewide ticket in 2010.

But picking Mr. Cuomo would allow the State Legislature, in a vote sure to be dominated by the Democratic-controlled Assembly, to pick his replacement. In that event, a new attorney general would come from the legislative ranks, and would not necessarily be someone the governor favors.

Most of the other contenders for the seat declined to comment on the development Wednesday evening, though Ms. Maloney said of Ms. Kennedy: “It speaks well of her character that she would put her family first.”

Ms. Maloney noted that she had just been appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi as chairwoman of the House and Senate Joint Economic Committee, and said that that buttressed her candidacy for the Senate seat.

“The economy is job No. 1, and my experience gives me the background, knowledge and opportunity to represent my state as no one else could when the stimulus package is crafted,” she said.

A Democrat close to Mr. Cuomo said Ms. Kennedy’s withdrawal opened an opportunity for Mr. Cuomo, who up to now has privately expressed mixed feelings about seeking the Senate seat. “I think Andrew has to act fast and act decisively if he really wants this,” said the person, who asked not to be identified because of the uncertain nature of the matter. “He can’t afford to equivocate.”

Meanwhile, television news crews were staking out Ms. Gillibrand’s home in Washington on Wednesday night. Ms. Gillibrand is scheduled to appear with Mr. Paterson at a joint news conference on the economy in Hyde Park, N.Y., on Monday, but aides said that event was scheduled long ago.

David M. Halbfinger and Raymond Hernandez contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Kennedy Ends Bid for Senate, Informing Paterson of Choice. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe